GOAL:
To encourage students, as they are reading, to identify a favorite or least favorite character and write about him or her supporting their viewpoint
ASSIGNED READING:
Chapter 7
WRITING PROMPT:
Choose a character that you really like or dislike. Describe who the character is and what part he or she plays in the story. Give three or more solid reasons (in other words, support) for your view of this character.
ONLINE PROMPT:
Use the Student Comment Form to share ideas and questions with your online peers. Check yesterday's Student Comments page to see if there are any comments you want to respond to.
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Good readers are always thinking as they are reading. They will often judge a character and decide that the character is, for example, nice, mean, or friendly. What specific things does a character do to make a reader feel a certain way? By identifying those actions, the reader is supporting his or her feelings.
Today's prompt asks students to describe a favorite or least favorite character. Discuss what factors would make a character a good choice or a poor choice for this assignment. Students should choose a character with some depth. Any round character would be a good choice. (They could choose a flat character, but not every flat character would be a good choice.) Take a few minutes to brainstorm with students good/poor choices. Possible good choices include, but are not limited to The Souls, Mrs. Olinski, Grandpa, Margaret, and Ham. Poor choices include the rabbi, Tillie, and Nadia's mom. Why would they be poor choices?
Use of simile: Part of an author's style is the use of figurative language. This means that the author uses words in an unusual way, giving them meaning beyond their everyday definitions. A simile is an example of figurative language. It is a comparison of two things that are very dissimilar but that share some quality in common. A simile uses the word like or as to make the comparison. For example, on p. 134: "His smile was as genuine as a Xeroxed signature."
Review with students the concept of syllabication, the breaking of words into syllables. A couple of examples using words from the book might give them a better idea of how an error such as the one Dr. Rohmer made might occur.
Possible thoughts for discussion in community share:
- Why do the sixth graders pin a rope on their shirts? What does it signify (stand for)? How do you know this? Who is leading the sixth graders in this act? Why is that so significant (important)?
- On page 138, Nadia thinks to herself, "Sometimes people need a lift between switches." What does she mean in this situation?
- After defeating Knightsbridge and thus being able to move to the finals, the chapter ends with the comment "Other victories followed, but none was sweeter" (p. 138). What does this mean? Why was this so?
Click to go to Lesson 11.
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